Friday, July 2, 2010

May Day Compensation

As reported here, Los Angeles has agreed to pay $500,000 to six journalists who were injured in the melee at MacArthur Park during the May Day celebration in 2007. That amount is a drop in the bucket compared to the total compensation paid as a result of police misconduct. As the story reports:

The city paid out $13 million to settle nine lawsuits involving nearly 300 people after the rally at MacArthur Park. Police dispersed crowds by beating people with batons and firing beanbag rounds and rubber bullets. Forty-two people were injured.

There were plenty of cameras on hand to capture events. (Here is one video.) It was astounding to watch police march into peaceful crowds firing rubber bullets and engaging in other violent acts. After-event reports by the City of Los Angeles and the LAPD conceded that there had been several errors, including a lack of officer training and the resort to physical violence to control the crowds.